Ala Samarapungavan

ProfessorHead of the Department of Educational Studies

Research

My research focuses on reasoning and learning in science and mathematics from childhood through adulthood. I am interested in developmental, cultural, and epistemic aspects of knowledge acquisition in the sciences. I collaborate with public schools in Indiana to help elementary, middle, and high school teachers infuse inquiry into science instruction and to document student learning. I collaborate with researchers in other fields on a variety of projects that examine the features of advanced science learning at the college level and beyond. I am also interested in informal science learning of the kind that occurs from museum field trips and 4-H projects.